Mexico flight could start by early summer if Southwest and its merger partner, AirTran, can get government OKs for the service

Aloha, Maui. Nearly two years after launching the service, Continental - which is merging into United - says it will stop non-stop service between John Wayne Airport and Maui after New Year's Day. Service to Honolulu will continue.

A United jet with Continental paint scheme passes a Delta jet at John Wayne Airport. The cancellation of OC-Maui service comes as the "new" United finalizes its merger with Continental.

Almost drowned out amid the hoopla over the sometimes troublesome opening days of the new Terminal C at John Wayne Airport was big news about a shift in the fortunes of the airport’s sun-and-fun destinations.

Mexico is in, Maui is out.

First came the news that Orange County would be saying “bienvenido,” or “welcome,” to service from John Wayne Airport to Cabo San Lucas and Mexico City. Target date: June.

But it was only a couple of days later that it was announced that as of Jan. 2, John Wayne Airport would say “aloha” to its nonstop service to Maui. In Hawaiian, “aloha” means “hello” and “goodbye.” The airport said aloha (hello) to Orange County-Maui service in March 2010 and is now saying aloha (goodbye) 21 months later.

That it’s a little unclear which airlines are actually doing these things is part of the story – decisions on destinations are part of the upheaval and consolidation of the airline industry during a time of economic distress. I’ll try to explain without going too deep down the regulatory rabbit hole.

First, Mexico. The flights were announced by Southwest, which has purchased AirTran, an airline that doesn’t currently fly from John Wayne Airport. Southwest doesn’t fly outside the United States and doesn’t have some needed certifications to do so. AirTran does. So in June, AirTran will start flying out of John Wayne (new airline) to Cabo and Mexico City (new routes).

Southwest/AirTran jumped in after the county offered a sweetener. The new Terminal C was built with Customs and Border Protection facilities to handle flights from Mexico. But about a month before the new terminal was to open, there were still no airlines signed up to use the place. The county swiftly approved $300,000 in rent breaks for any airline that flies a new route. Southwest took up the offer, announced two routes, and will get a $600,000 break.

The first two Mexico choices were good. No place has the draw for Orange County like Cabo San Lucas, plus it takes about as much time to drive to LAX from Orange County as it does to fly from there to the resort at the tip of Baja California. Mexico City is a hub airport, and Southwest already has a partnership with Mexican carrier Volaris. I expect some sort of joint marketing so that one ticket will get you from Orange County to pretty much anywhere in Mexico and maybe even the northern end of Latin America, with just a stop to change planes in Mexico City.

There’s still one Mexico slot available. I’ve heard some talk of Guadalajara as another destination, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Hawaii has its own intrigues. Continental launched its service to Oahu and Maui last year with high expectations. The flights on Aloha Airlines to Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island had been popular, and only interisland competition had forced the airline to shut down and declare bankruptcy in 2008. But as Alaska Airlines stepped in to gobble up Aloha routes from other cities like Oakland and San Diego, it stayed away from Orange County.

It took Continental to make the move. Honolulu always has a lot of business and leisure travel, and Maui, if I read my mail correctly, is by far the most popular outer island (Maui’s nice, but Kauai’s my favorite). I flew the first Continental flight to Honolulu and, despite the small 737 aircraft, it was great going over without making the trip to LAX.

But I knew the Maui portion was in trouble from the beginning. Continental announced that its single flight would leave Orange County at dinner time and arrive in Maui in time for passengers to drive to their hotel and watch “The Tonight Show.” The flight back was around midnight. For my first trip, I had taken an interisland flight from Honolulu to Maui first. Kahului is on the north side of the island, far from the resort areas of Kaanapali and Kihei. I had a late dinner, then went to Borders, which closed at 10 p.m. The only other thing to do was wander the aisle of the local Walmart until it was time to go to airport for the redeye home. The plane was far less than halfway full.

I think the Maui service would have been a hit with departure and arrival times that made sense. Continental has toyed with the service, moving it from daily to a few days a week and sometimes having no flights at all. It’s hard to build customer loyalty that way. With Maui, I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did. Continental says it is committed to Orange County-Honolulu service, but the airline is merging with United and there will be more consolidations of services and schedules in months to come. The airline is called United, but has most of Continental’s color scheme and much of its management.

Right now, the airport for Orange County – home to 3 million people – has as many flights to Hawaii as Bellingham, Wash., (population 81,070): one.

John Wayne Airport goosed the free market a bit to get flights to and from Mexico. I just wish they could do the same for Hawaii. But it will probably take an adrenaline rush to the whole economy for us to nose ahead of Bellingham.

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